The Managing Director for the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), Mrs Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, has visited the site of the airport project earmarked for construction at Anateem, a community under Sumbrungu in Bolgatanga of the Upper East Region.
The purpose of her visit to the site was to meticulously assess the suitability of the land in the area designated for the construction of the long-awaited airport project.
The MD, in the company of some technical team members from the GACL, was received by the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Donatus Atanga Akamugri, at the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) upon their arrival.
She received briefing on the progress of work from the Alangumgube Association whose members had contributed their widow’s mite to clear the site and graded the land to facilitate the building of the airstrip, before they set forth to tour the project site at Anateem.
The visit of the MD to the region comes two weeks after the regional minister, in the company of some technical team members from GACL, visited the site to discover at first hand the progress of work on the clearing of the runway by the Alangumgube Association for construction to begin.
Speaking to journalists after the tour, Mrs Opare said she was overwhelmed by the “proactive spirit and unwavering industriousness” exhibited by the Alangumgube Group, as they created the path for a runway up to about 2,000 metres.
She added that the seriousness portrayed by the association had actually inspired the GACL to push forward to getting the execution of the project on time.
“We thank the Alangumgube Group for spending their own resources to grade the land and create the path for a runway up to about 2,000 metres. This shows a lot of seriousness for this project”, she observed.
Meanwhile, Mr Akamugri stated that he had instructed the RCC to release the District Rehabilitation Improvement Programme (DRIP) equipment to aid in the clearing of the runway.
The Paramount Chief for the Nangodi Traditional Area, Napariyong Naba Kosom Asaga Yelzoya II, on his part, called on the GACL to “walk the talk”, and ensure the project was materialised to put an end to the several years of disappointment by successive governments.
Naba Yelzoya, a Council of State Member and Spokesperson to the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs, indicated that the project, if actualised would become the driving force for development in the region, and that, any disappointment on the pledge to get it started and completed this year would attract the chagrin of the chiefs and people of the region.
The Anateem community in Bolgatanga had released over 7,000 acres of land for the Airport in the early 1970s, but successive governments had consistently failed to prioritise the construction of the project to ease the transportation challenge facing the people in the region.
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